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Abstract

The federal tax code allows employers to provide tax-free transit benefits to employees. Although transit benefits programs are commonly promoted as having advantages for transit agencies, such as increasing transit ridership and transit agency revenues, their effects and effectiveness are not well understood and need to be better assessed. This research is designed to help transit agencies, policy-makers, and organizations that promote transit benefits better understand what effects they might expect from a transit benefits program and how to quantify these effects. Overall, the research found that transit benefits programs can be effective for transit agencies attempting to meet various goals, in terms of increasing ridership and revenues, and decreasing costs. However, it is critical to set realistic expectations and conduct valid evaluations to assess these effects.